Sunday, March 27, 2011

I'd really like to include OSR fanzines (or material from) but need to seek permission. Does anyone know the contact info for folks in charge of Knockspell (Matt Finch, correct?), Fight On!, and Oubliette?

Also, I thought I'd post the bibliographic entries here when the time comes, so those of you can follow along at home if you like. What do you think?

Friday, March 25, 2011

I receved some very positive feedback on the T-shirts Zhu and I created for my Red Box Niagara gaming group.

So, due to the interest we decided to make them available to everyone at Cafe Press for 19 CDN. Here's the link.

Zhu and I have agreed that any profit (and we need to sell a bunch before that happens) will stay in the OSR community, specifically some new minis from Otherworld Miniatures to set against our players.

We hope you enjoy a part of our humble contribution to Old School goodness and "Come Forth from Mom's Basement!"

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The first time I saw these miniatures I was but a learner. I didn't buy a set at the time, and I've regretted it since. In case you haven't seen these before, they are "Barrow Wights" from the Lord of the Rings Citadel range from the mid 1980s. While I'm not a master, I've certainly become stronger in the ways of the force. I've finally acquired the third (of the set of three) this week from EvilBay and I'm really looking forward to painting them up and setting them against my players.

Here's a new magic-user spell from our Northern Reaches game crafted by Alex (the player of Vith) and myself. The idea for spell originated from a late-night attack by street thugs in Threshold that left the elven wizard with a terrible facial wound.

Vitharia's Vengeful VisageLevel: 2Duration: See belowRange: 0

This spell functions as a lesser version of the 4th level magic-user spell Fear.

This spell creates an illusion that deforms the face of the caster (or accentuates an existing deformity) and inspires terror in living creatures within an invisible cone (5' wide origin, 20' long, and 15' diameter at the terminal end). Those who behold the Vengeful Visage panic and flee in fear of the caster if they fail a saving throw versus spells. Victims flee from the caster as fast as their movement rate allows, for a number of rounds equal to half the caster's level (rounded up). This spell has no effect on blind creatures or creatures of 4 or greater hit dice.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

I'm going to teach a spring course at my university devoted to the history and theory of RPGs. Cool, eh?

Each class will consist of lectures and a tutorial. I plan on using the tutorial to introduce students to old school character generation,(very basic) random senario generation, and then finally play.

Have you come across any materials on blogs, forums, or websites that layout either character generation (including character development) or basic encounters for beginners? I need materials that assume no prior knowledge.

I know there's stuff out there, it's just a matter of finding the right introductory materials.

About Me

Greg is a boastful, hammer-wielding, red-bearded dwarf who started playing D&D in the early 1980s when hooked by the Red Box. When he's not obsessed with D&D he poses as a sleep-deprived professor of popular culture.